Solomon: Astros counting on camaraderie this season

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — If the question is which is the more significant factor in winning, talent would usually take the vote over chemistry.

Yet logic suggests a team that locks arms and sings folk songs before each game should fare better in the long run than one that brawls in the clubhouse every few days.

Most teams fall between those extremes, but the closer a team is to happy and hugging, the less likely it is to be a last-place loser. Every player isn’t going to be happy, but the more happy players you have, the merrier a clubhouse will be.

Over the course of last season, the Astros’ clubhouse went from dark and grumpy to bright and excited. Dark and grumpy was in last place the first 2 1/2 months. Bright and excited finished 33-27, the fourth-best record in the National League over the final two months of the season.

While it would be a cheap shot at two of the franchise’s all-time greats to argue that Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman were the Dark and Grumpy of the clubhouse, it was clear that by midseason the two veterans were not overly excited about coming to work with a struggling team in need of rebuilding.

They were professional about it, but on some level their lack of enthusiasm had to wear on their young teammates. After they were traded, the young Astros, with an average age of 27, began to play better. They found a way to come together.

No ‘off’ in offseason

Astros manager Brad Mills says it is important that his players are comfortable with and trust one another on the field. He saw that in his squad late last season and sees it thus far in spring training.

“A guy drops a ball and is ready to pick it up, but somebody else has got his back, that type of thing,” Mills said. “A guy strikes out with guys in scoring position, and (a teammate) says, ‘Hey, man, I’ll pick you up,’ as he’s walking back, things of that nature.

“When guys start feeling like they are all pulling in the same direction, that character of the ballclub starts coming out. The personality of the ballclub starts forming.”

No one yet knows what the dominant personality of this year’s Astros will be, but they are off to a solid start in character-building. And it all started well before spring training began.

Winter workouts at Minute Maid Park were unlike any the team has seen in years.

MLB teams shut down for the offseason, leaving players on their own for the most part, except for those sent to play winter ball.

Hunter Pence says in previous winters the only players in Houston working out at the Astros’ facility were young ones trying to make an impression. A couple of years ago, he and Wandy Rodriguez were the only two Astros on the major league roster who showed up regularly.

This winter, a couple dozen Astros, including players who don’t make their offseason home in Houston, were on hand to prepare for the season.

“Spending that time together builds team chemistry,” Pence said. “We all get better because we push each other. We challenge each other. We all want to get better together. That is important.

“This team has a lot of chemistry. We know that we’re capable of doing good things, but we have to build off the end of last season and the work this winter. We have to continue to improve.”

In the end, chemistry gets you only so far.

“I was part of clubs that had guys who hated each other and guys that loved each other, and it didn’t matter as long as you’re on the same page,” said former Astros pitcher Doug Brocail, who is now a special assistant to general manager Ed Wade. “A good clubhouse doesn’t necessarily mean that you all get along. It does make things easier when everybody gets along, but when everybody gets along at the end of the day, are you winning?”

Talent still plays big role

“This game has to be played with an edge when you’re on the field, but when we’re in this clubhouse, you have to have fun with each other and take your mind off the game a little bit,” new Astros infielder Bill Hall said. “Obviously, wins are about talent – you’ve got to have talent and play the game the right way to get wins – but a clubhouse with good camaraderie, with guys who hang out with each other and get along, has a better chance to win than one in which people don’t get along.”

Hall, who was on a 67-win Brewers team in his first full season in the majors and there when Milwaukee made the playoffs in 2008, said how veterans handle younger players sets the tone for a clubhouse. He believes young players tend to struggle when they feel like they are “playing on thin ice and walking on eggshells.”

“Pitching and defense wins games, but it is important to be excited about being here and being a good teammate,” Pence said. “You need to have each other’s back and know you’re going to go out there and fight for each other.

“We had that at the end of last season, and I think we’ll have that this year.”